{"id":11373,"date":"2012-07-31T22:14:51","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T02:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=11373"},"modified":"2020-05-18T11:36:52","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T15:36:52","slug":"high-key-studio-lighting-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/high-key-studio-lighting-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"High-key studio lighting for portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

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High-key studio lighting for portraits<\/h1>\n

One of the models that replied to my casting call for a model at my workshops in San Francisco in 2011, happened to be Ulorin Vex<\/a>. I immediately recognized her, since I’ve seen photos of her in various portfolios. I was both surprised and very happy, since I regarded her as a bit of a superstar. I scheduled a photo session with her for the day after the two workshops in SF, and the images from those sessions<\/a> appeared a few times on Tangents, and I’d consider them among the best work I had ever done. It helps to have an inspiring model!<\/p>\n

Ulorin Vex was such a pleasure to photograph, and so professional, that when she let know me she was briefly visiting the New York area, I jumped at the chance of photographing her again. As I mentioned in my\u00a0first impressions of the Nikon D800,<\/a>\u00a0I now have ready access to a large studio. I have acquired various lighting gear over time, but recently purchased the Profoto D1 studio\u00a0light (500 Ws)<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>).<\/p>\n

So I was all set for the photo session – a wonderful model; superb gear; and a large studio where we could shoot.\u00a0I shot about 8 different setups, which I intend posting here over the next few days. (So be prepared for a few more blog posts from this session.)<\/p>\n

For the first set-up, I decided to keep it very simple with a white backdrop, and high-key lighting …<\/p>\n

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This pull-back shot shows the simplicity with which I approached it. (There are other ways to light high-key portraits, but this is the way I decided on this time.)<\/p>\n

1.) An unmodified light directly on the backdrop. I set it to give me a histogram which is on the very edge of the right-hand side of the histogram. This way I knew the background would blow out a bit, but not be so bright that it would give lens flare or interfere with the lighting of my model.<\/p>\n

I wanted to use f8 for my main light on my model, so I adjusted the power of the light on the background, until my histogram for the backdrop showed what I wanted.<\/p>\n

2.) Then I used a lightmeter to give me f8 for where I would position my model. My main light is a Profoto D1 head in a\u00a0Profoto beauty dish<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>).<\/p>\n

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For processing of these images, I started with the RAW file, and the profile set to Camera Vivid in ACR \/ Bridge. You could set the same Camera Vivid profile in Lightroom via the Develop \/ Camera Calibration tab.<\/p>\n

To make the backdrop appear white, I did two things:<\/p>\n

1. I cranked the Whites in ACR \/ Bridge. (Again, you could do exactly the same in Lightroom.) This over-exposes the whites considerably, without really affecting the rest of the photo. If you wanted, you could use\u00a0local adjustments in Lightroom or ACR \/ Bridge<\/a>\u00a0to brush back the normal tones to where they were before.<\/p>\n

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This image posted in the article on the D800, shows what the backdrop looks like in the photo at this point, without any further editing \u00a0in Photoshop.<\/p>\n

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It’s not entirely white, but the next step easily turns it into a sheer white background.<\/p>\n

2.) I use the Magic Wand Tool in Photoshop, and just click on the white background. Photoshop will automatically select<\/strong> all the white-ish tones.<\/p>\n

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Now you can just use the Erase Tool and completely erase all the white and white-ish areas which is the background.<\/p>\n

Sometimes Photoshop will select areas it won’t … and also to avoid getting a jagged pixelated edge, you can now use the History Brush all along the edges in quick sweeps, to brush back any detail that may have been erased.<\/p>\n

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I don’t spend much time on this … it really is a quick edit especially with the background so close to being white anyway.<\/p>\n

The Erase Tool is set to a large size, and you can quickly sweep over the entire image. Then after you’ve Deselected the selection made by the Magic Wand Tool, a quick brush stroke over the entire edge areas, will pull back any detail that might’ve been lost in the previous step.<\/p>\n

And with that, you can easily get images that look like the next sequence.<\/p>\n

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Camera settings & gear (or equivalents) used in this photo session<\/h2>\n